I’m not one for making resolutions, but I try to make promises to myself that it will be a better year or at least I have hopes for it. It’s nineteen days into 2021, and I’m already exhausted. It’s bad enough that 2020 left most of us feeling isolated and alone during the Coronavirus shutdowns. Add the political climate in our country into the mix, and it is downright depressing. I’m actually scared for our country and the American people. There is so much hate spewed at one another on social media platforms. To be honest, I’m not certain why some people can just “scroll on by” when reading something they disagree with. People are entitled to their opinions, but not to have other shove them down their proverbial throats. I certainly try not to post anything political on the book of faces (I don’t use other forms of social media, though I do have a Twitter and MeWe account). It’s a mixed bag, isn’t it? So often we ask others what they are thinking only be to overloaded with venomous hatred for others or groups of people. I’ve stopped asking, except for John & Jakob. I seriously don’t want to know. I’ve seen people who I really like write some really awful things about President Trump. So much so that I’ve stopped following them or turned them off for 30 days. Like him or not, he is the President of our country. At the end of the day, he is a human being and is working very hard for this country. Previous Presidents have not been vilified with so much hate. Sure there have been personality traits that have been “joked” about in the press or by comedians, but the disdain for President Trump is something I’ve never heard or seen before. It’s hate. Think about that for a minute….HATE.
We all dislike things or people or places or food or what-have-you, but to literally deep in your bones actually HATE someone is taking a lot of energy. I know the Bible, more specifically Jesus, says to “Love One Another as I have Loved You”, and I know that’s a toughy. First of all, Jesus was amazing in his perfection and his ability to love without judgment. He was and is the only perfect human, the rest of us are fallible. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t strive to be like Him. I openly admit, I struggle tremendously with this commandment from Jesus. How am I supposed to love someone I don’t like? But you see Jesus doesn’t say that we have to “like one another”. Love is different than like. Don’t you think? So, we don’t have to LIKE President Trump or Obama or President-Elect Biden, but we should pray for them with an open, loving heart. Didn’t Jesus pray for the sinners and loathsome of people during his time? Wasn’t one of His disciples previously a tax collector whom everyone hated? I am far from a biblical scholar, I know stories but not scripture. And who knows, maybe you aren’t Christian, but I’m pretty sure most other faiths share this in common about hate being a bad thing. And why are we hurting (mentally, emotionally or physically) people who disagree with our political beliefs?
As you know, I struggle with Depression & Anxiety, and right now I feel like I’m vibrating (on the inside) as we close in on the Inauguration tomorrow. I’m extremely worried for my family, and yours, and everyone else in our country. I find myself praying over and over for the same thing….peace and kindness and most of all safety. It feels like America is on a collision course with evil, whether that be more protest that turn to riots or an all out war. Wouldn’t it be great if people, Trump and Biden included, could simply do the right thing for the right reason? Without personal or financial gain? Without lies and deceit? And wouldn’t it be great if people would actually listen with compassion and understanding? Without judgment and hate? I mean, really, who are we to judge? I fuck up on a daily basis, whether it’s something I say or do. I’ve hurt people’s feelings on purpose and without thinking. What kind of person does that make me? Imperfect, sure, but when I hurt someone, I want to know so that I can apologize and learn not to do it again. I remember once when I was in my early 20’s, I was at a family function and there was a baby (one of my younger cousins) who was being held by Joey’s girlfriend at the time, Marilyn, when the baby started to cry. I turned and looked at Marilyn, and said, “What did you do to him/her?” Like she intentionally made the baby cry. WTF?!?! Who does that? An insensitive shit! It hurt Marilyn, and it wasn’t the first time I had said something like that to her if she was holding a crying baby. Know why? It had been done to me for as long as I could remember. A little off topic but I had been taking care of babies since I was under 10 years old. But I digress….
I don’t want to be that person. I also don’t want to be the kind of person who judges another by what they look like….whether it be skin color, tattoos, piercings, hair color, etc. When those judgments pop into my head, I immediately start praying, asking God to take those thoughts away and to help me be a better person. I mean, I don’t know what that person is going through or has gone through or why they’ve made the decisions in their lives that they have up to that moment in time. Would they judge me just as harshly for the decisions I have made in mine? Isn’t there an old saying about people who live in “Glass Houses” not casting the first stone. “Judge not lest ye be judge” Matthew 7:1.
Ok, I feel like I’m rambling now. I honestly just want the hate to stop. What kind of legacy are we leaving our children? And have we learned nothing from history? I don’t know, maybe I just need to move to an island somewhere.